When Malcolm Gladwell’s “The Tipping Point” was release in 2000, I can say with absolutely certainty that he did not intend to write a prescient piece on the lifecycle of 10Gb Ethernet (10GbE) technology. However, that does not render the application of his three “agents of change” to the current state of the technology incorrect. These agents of change – “the Law of the Few,” “the stickiness factor,” and “the power of context” – are critical elements to the tipping points of ideas, products, messages, or behaviors.
So, here we are, 10 years after the IEEE standard for 1GbE (802.3ae-2002) was established, yet widespread adoption is only just beginning. In fact, according to Dell’Oro Group (Dell’Oro Group Ethernet Switch July 2012 Forecast), we will most likely see 10GbE switch deployment surpass 1GbE in 2013, meaning 10GbE will have hit mainstream. We are standing at the precipice of the technology’s tipping point! What better time to take a brief moment and consider the “agents of change” that have led us to this point.
“The Law of the Few” – achieving critical mass in any context, is directly coupled to the involvement of individuals or organizations with very distinct skills. Gladwell delineates these skills in the following way:
- “Connectors” are those with the ability to reach across social and business barriers to bring people together, with a combination of “curiosity, self-confidence, sociability, and energy.”
- “Mavens” constantly accumulate knowledge on the subject and marketplace, becoming the subject matter experts, and having a ceaseless desire to share and trade for new information.
- “Salesmen” are the persuasive and charismatic bunch with the indefinable qualities that get them all the glory.
In the build-up to the current state of 10GbE adoption, there has been sufficient time for industry groups and associations to take on the role of “connectors,” technology evangelists to become “mavens,” and hardware and software innovators to become the “salesmen.”
Now, I can’t speak for other organizations, but at Emulex, I am keenly aware of our motley crew of “connectors,” “mavens,” and “salesmen.” While each skill alone is a rarity, the confluence of these skill-types is even more scarce. It’s no wonder that Emulex technology is trusted the world over.
“The stickiness factor” – delivering a message that resonates; combining what would otherwise be diametrically opposed (educational and entertaining) content in a way that people can relate…sort of like this blog?!
This is the exact reason why we have introduced our “Why I/O Is Strategic” campaign. Data centers are the lifeblood of modern business, and our products operate at the core. While they are an easily overlooked element of the overall infrastructure, your I/O choice is strategic, and shouldn’t be left to chance.
Emulex OneConnect® Network Xceleration™ (NX) solutions take your 10GbE network and turn it into a high performance network (HPN), where low latency, better I/O analytics and predictable I/O performance is key to staying competitive. As part of Emulex’s education series “Why I/O Is Strategic,” we developed a whitepaper that describes how our OneConnect 12000-D adapters take your 10GbE to the next level. Read “Top 5 Reasons Why Emulex NX 10GbE Adapters are Strategic” to find out more.
“The power of context” – behaviors are largely influenced by our environment, and by extension, ideas, products, and messages are sensitive to the conditions and circumstances of the times in which they occur.
The technology landscape is significantly different from what it was 10 years ago:
- In the financial vertical, High Frequency Trading (HFT) has hit the mainstream – massive profits are achieved by leveraging low latency technologies, microseconds have monetary value.
Consider this: If the low latency performance of Emulex OneConnect NX adapters with FastStack™ DBL™ can impact the revenue of a high frequency trading company by hundreds of millions of dollars in one day, think what impact even a tiny portion of that could have on your business. (read these papers to learn more: Achieve Ultra-Low Latency for High Frequency Trading (HFT) Applications and Using FastStack DBL and Sniffer10G™ in HFT platforms)
- In the cyber/network security vertical, distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks are a growing, and costly threat to all industries.
Consider this: In a Q1 2012 study by Neustar, DDoS attacks were found to have the potential to cost companies hundreds of thousands to millions of revenue dollars each day. What measures have you put in place to preventing this from happening to your company? Emulex OneConnect NX adapters with FastStack Sniffer10G could enable you to deploy a scalable solution to this threat. (read this paper to learn more: Using FastStack DBL and Sniffer10G in HFT platforms and Emulex Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) Solutions)
- In the video streaming vertical, the market is constantly being tested by the ceaselessly growing demand for media streaming to fixed and mobile devices.
Consider this: By leveraging Emulex OneConnect NX adapters with FastStack VideoPump™, you improved data center utilization by delivering more streams on fewer server while offering high quality of experience (QoE), and enabling CDN providers to further monetize data streams by freeing CPU cycles for value-add features.
The technology cycle is underway, and we’ve almost hit the tipping point. A growing percentage of the market has already started to monetize the process. It’s worth considering taking your 10GbE infrastructure to its fullest potential and unlock the strategic value of the technology.
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